Piyush Goyal said on the show To The Point with Karan Thapar, that every segment of the society will benefit from different aspects of this Budget.

A day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget in the Parliament, how did the government respond to criticism and comments? Power and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal spoke to India Today's Karan Thapar, on his show To The Point, on the public response to the Union Budget.

On the lack of a clear central idea in the Budget, he said - "This government, since it was sworn in, has one central theme and agenda, and that is to take the benefits of growth, meet the aspirations of the person at the bottom of the pyramid," said Goyal.

The finance minister, in his Budget speech, stressed a lot on MNREGA, Aadhar, farmers, the rural poor - a shift in the Budget from the middle-class to the poor. Many thought it was more of a Congress rather than a BJP Budget.

"Many corporates complimented the Budget saying that it gives a new thrust to rural spending, gives a demand push, and gets their businesses back in shape. This is an ecosystem where every section of the society has its own role. Every segment of the society will benefit from different aspects of this Budget. It has touched 125 crore lives," said Goyal.

"The cess and the taxes are the only things people are interested in talking about. The service tax won't have an impact more than Rs 20-25 to an average person. He's been given far more than that in several ways. Every human being has a consumption level. The impact on the middle class cannot be more than Rs 25-30 per capital at any point of time," said the minister.